Letting Her Go
by Secret life of writing
Summary: It's been four years since the apocalypse has been over. Now Clementine is 15 and has fallen in love, living in a house in Northern Georgia with the few people that managed to survive with her. Will Luke be able to let his little girl go? Rated T for language. OC.
1. Is She Ready?

June 16th, 2020, four years since the end of the zombie Apocalypse. Clementine is now 15, living in a house in Northern Georgia with the few people that managed to survive with her.

Luke ended up with her, after she had saved him from drowning once he had fallen through the ice of the lake they needed to cross.  
Rebecca had survived the birth of her son Alvin Jr with the help of the coat Bonnie, Mike, and Clem found. And the medicine Jane and Clem took from Arvo, the Russian whos group held them at gunpoint. AJ had sadly not survived the cold temperatures of the winter air. With only a blanket to keep him warm he suffered from hypothermia. Rebecca was hysterical after loosing not only Alvin, but the baby too. Luke had managed to urge her into continuing on with them.

Then there was Sarah. After loosing Carlos she was delirious, didn't care about her or anyone's safety, but Clementine helped pull her out of her deranged state and back into reality. Once the deck fell at the museums girt shop Sarah had fallen with it and gotten stuck. Clementine had urged Jane to go save her which ended up with Sarah surviving.

It turned out that as soon as the outbreak had occurred the president of the U.S. was taken to an underground camp where a team of scientist were working on a cure to fix this national crises. After three years of this hell on earth someone came up with a cure. It couldn't bring people back from being a walker, but could stop someone from turning once bitten.

Not only had Clementine's small group survived, but so did many others. Word got out and over the course of four years society had started to rebuild itself.

* * *

It was about six thirty in the morning when Luke slowly walked into the kitchen. Still rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"I was wondering when you were gonna get up." Rebecca said from the kitchen table with her hands around a cup of coffee, reading the paper.

Luke jumped at the sound of another voice "God you scared me."

Rebecca giggled at Luke's reaction "Your usually up before now, tough day at work yesterday?" She wondered.

"Yeah, knocked the shit out of me. So I thought I'd sleep in a little longer." Luke said sleepily as he garbed himself a cup of coffee and took a seat next to Rebecca.  
"The girls up yet?"

Just then Sarah walked through the kitchen doorway already for the day. She still wore the same blue sweat jacket and red tinted glasses she had on the day Clem met her. "Morning Luke, Morning Rebecca."

"Good Morning Sarah. Is Clem up yet?" Rebecca wondered.

"No, shes still asleep." Sarah said as she took a seat next to Rebecca and Luke.

"I wouldn't be surprised, girl would sleep till noon if we let'er." Luke Joked "But I think shes got somethin' planned fer today."

"I believe so, although she didn't specify what exactly." Said Rebecca.  
"well she better get up soon. Shes still got chores to finish before she goes anywhere."

Luke and Rebecca had taken a sort of parent like roll over Clementine and Sarah, so living in the same house was necessary. Luke was especially protective over Clem. Ever since he met her back at the cabin he became attached to her, just like Lee had. Now the four of them have a special bond that keeps them together.

"Did she tell you anything Sarah?" Luke asked his protective side starting to show.

Sarah had gotten up and poured herself a bowl of cereal for breakfast. "No she didn't say anything to me." She said disappointment in her voice as she sat back down. "I wanted to do something fun today just the two of us."

"Damn, where could she be going if she hasn't told any of us?" Luke started to get frustrated.

"Don't worry you can ask her as soon as she gets up." Rebecca said going back to reading her paper.

"I know. I know. I just like to know ahead of time if she goes anywhere." Luke took another sip of his coffee. "Ya'll know its still not one hundred percent safe out there. Therese still some lurkers roamin' around." Concern written on his face.

"I know that!" Rebecca snapped. "It says right in the paper that some lurkers were found near the boarder of Alabama Yesterday. Luckily they were killed right away.

"This is exactly why she needs to tells us if she plans on going somewhere." Luke's protective side clearly showing now.

Sarah had finished her cereal and put the bowl in the sink. "I'm going to do my chores now!" she yelled as she walked out of the kitchen to the back door.

"Alright, just be careful okay." Luke said.  
"I will."

Rebecca stared at him for a minuet before saying "Luke, Clem's fifteen now she can handle herself out there."

Luke crossed his arms."I know, kid can handle herself better than three adults put together can."

"Then why are you so worried?" Rebecca put down the paper waiting for an answer.

"I'm not...I just don't want anything ta happen to her... that's all." Luke got up from his chair and put his cup in the sink having finished his coffee. "I'm gonna go take a shower." He said not wanting to be hit with anymore questions from Rebecca.

* * *

Two hours later it was about eight thirty. Luke and Rebecca had gotten ready for the day and were planing what to do since it was Saturday. Just then a new figure walked through the kitchen doorway.

"Well its about time you got up." Luke joked as he saw Clem enter the kitchen. Clem wore light blue jeans rolled up halfway to her knees, a white tank top with a red plaid western shirt over it and of course her blue and white baseball cap with a "D" on the front. She still kept her hair short though. It was a way of reminding her of Lee.

"Morning Clem" Rebecca greeted.

"Morning." Clem said as she stretched. "wheres Sarah?"  
"Already out doing her chores."

"Anyway!" Started Luke trying to take over. "What do you plan on doin' today? Word is you plan on going somewhere."

This caught Clem off guard she hadn't planed on getting interrogated by Luke. "O yeah. Tommy's going to come pick me up and where going to hang out today." Clem blushed a little rubbing the back of her neck nervously. Talking about him always did, especially to Luke.

Tommy was Clementine's boyfriend. He was 17, two years older than Clem. He had light brown hair and blue eyes, drove a white truck and usually wore blue jeans and a white t-shirt. Clem had met him two years after her and the rest of her group had moved in to their new house. They had offered to help him and his mom Kelly move in down the street a few blocks away. Clem had instantly fell in love with him. They became good friends until about three months later Tommy asked her out and they became boyfriend and girlfriend. Sarah found out almost instantly and liked to joke around with Clem about it. Rebecca thought it was cute for her to have a boyfriend. Luke was another story, he hated it. He didn't have a problem with Tommy, he actually quite liked him, but he didn't like the thought of Clem dating, he thought she was still to young. She was his little girl after all, but after Rebecca talked to him and a lot of protesting from Clementine he finally gave in.

Luke leaned up against the counter and crossed his arms. "You still gotta finish your chores before ya leave."

"I know. I'm going to do them right now." She pointed to the back door behind her."

"Just maken sure you remembered." Luke put his hands up in defense. "Now you be careful out there ya hear" He warned.

"Yeah, I get it." Clem then grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl sitting on the kitchen counter.

Just then Sarah came back in from outside after finishing her chores. Clem then turned around to leave. "Bye Rebecca, bye Luke." She passed Sarah on her way to the door. "Bye Sarah, see you guys later." And with that she was out the door and into the yard.

"Hey Sarah." Rebecca greeted. "Got any plans today."

"Not anymore." She sighed taking a seat next to Rebecca.  
"How come?"  
"I wanted to hang out with Clementine today, but now shes leaving with Tommy..." Sarah sighed, but then looked back up a hint of hope in her eyes. "Actually I might have plans after all. I could go see if Rachel wants to hang out."

"That's a good idea. Why don't you go see if shes home? Its not like much is going on here anyway." Rebecca lied. She secretly wanted to talk to Luke alone about something that seemed to be bothering him.  
"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, you go on ahead." Said Luke

"Alright. See you guys later!" With that Sarah ran out the door and across the street to Rachel's house.

Rachel was one of Clementine and Sarah's friends who lived across the street from them, she was 17 and had light brown hair. Clem and Sarah had a group of friends that they would always hang out with, Whenever Luke or Rebecca would ask about them they would always call them the girls, since they were hardly ever alone. Along with Rachel there was Wendy who was 15 with orange-ish, reddish hair. She was always the cool one with the chill personality. Then there was Abigail who was 18, Sarah's age, she had dark brown hair, and lastly there was Sky. Her real name was Skyler, but everyone called her Sky for short. She was 16 and had blond hair and blue eyes, she was always a free spirit.

Sarah walked across the dirt road to Rachel's house and knocked on the door. A few seconds later it opened and Sarah was greeted by Rachel. "Sarah?"

"Hey Rachel." Sarah greeted. "I wanted to know if you'd like yo hang out today...or something?"

"Sure!" She replied. "Actually me and the girls are going down to the shop today to get our nails done." She pointed behind her in the direction of the beauty shop. "Want to come with us?"  
"Sure"  
"Then lets go!"

And with that Rachel shut her front door and they started walking down the road to go find the girls.

* * *

Meanwhile Clementine was in the back yard working on her chores. She had a bucket of soap and water and was washing some clothes. She had just finished her last shirt and was about to rinse it out. Instead she shrugged _"O'well I'll get it afterwards." she thought._ Then she moved on to taking the dried clothes off the clothes line and putting them into the basket.

It was nine fifteen, she was about halfway done when a car pull up and a voice called out to her "Hey you ready to go or what?"

"Tommy!" She turned around and ran up to him and hugged him, putting her arms around his neck.

He stared into her golden eyes smiling down at her. "Hey girl, how've you been?"

"Great, now that your here." She smiled and released him from the hug.

"So you ready to go?" He asked placing his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, just let me tell them I'm leaving." She grabbed the basket of clothes and carried them inside where she hoped to fined Luke or Rebecca, only no one was around.

"Luke!" She called. "Rebecca!" No answer. "O'well I'll just write them a note." She said to no one unparticular. She grabbed a pen and a piece of paper. _"Luke, Tommy came to pick me up. Sorry but I have to go."_ Then she stuck it on the screen door.

Clem ran back outside to Tommy's pickup truck where he was waiting for her. "Ready to go?" He asked.

"Yep lets go." She opened the door and climbed inside, closing the door behind her. Tommy got in on the other side and started the truck and off they went down the dirt road. "So, where are we going today?" She asked curiosity in her eyes.  
"I'v got something special planned this time."

"What is it? Are we going to the park or possibly the drive in? Are we going out of town?" She tried to guess.

Tommy giggled at her enthusiasm. "You'll just have to wait and see?" He wanted it to be a surprise.

"Please... just tell me!" She begged. Her childish side starting to show "I have to know!"

"Aww... your so cute when you beg." He chuckled touching her hat, pulling it over her eyes. "But I'm not telling."

Clem fixed her hat sending him a look. "You can be a real jerk sometimes, you know." She joked, playfully shoving him.  
"well I got you didn't I?"

"Smartest decision you ever made." She smiled back at him.

But what Clem didn't know was that Luke and Rebecca entered the kitchen right after Clem left out the back door. "Hey, look at this!" Said Luke to Rebecca as he pulled Clem's note off of the door. _"Luke, Tommy came to pick me up. Sorry but I have to go."_ He read out loud. Luke ran to the window above the kitchen sink and looked out. Rebecca sat at the table. He saw Clementine walk up to Tommy and hop in his white pickup truck and watched as they sped off down the road leaving a trail of dust behind.

"Well is she out there?" Rebecca wanted to know.

"Yeah, she just got in the truck with Tommy. They...they just left." Luke put his hands on the counter, leaning on them he sighed.

Rebecca sighed as well. "I guess it was gonna happen sooner or later."  
"She didn't finish her chores either. She left the suds in the bucket and the clothes hangin' out on the line."

Luke looked up at her."Becc, do...do you think we did the right thing, you know letting her date him."  
"Why! You don't trust Tommy? I thought you said he's a great guy?  
"No,no I do...Its just..."

"Luke!" She said sternly. "Clem's 15, she obeys all of our rules, and Tommy's a great guy."

Luke sighed and crossed his arms. "I know...I just...I don't want to let my little girl go." He said sadly.

"I know what you mean." Rebecca looked down at the note on the table that Clem had written.  
"You knew!"

"Of course I did!" She smiled at him. "Ever since you met her back at the cabin you became attached to her. I see the way you look at her and the way she looks at you, the way your overprotective of her,how you know how to calm her down and make her feel better when she's upset. To be honest its actually really cute.

Luke blushed a little realizing just how much he meant to the little girl. "Thanks Becc." He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"She was always so cautious ya know. Never just trusted people right away. He chuckled. "Now here comes Tommy and she just up and runs leaving us in the dust." He gestured with his arm.  
"Hey, she's still here and we also have Sarah. Its not like shes leaving forever, she'll be back later today."

"Yeah...your right. I just don't want to lose my little girl." He took a seat across from her.

"Your gonna have one hell of a story to talk about tomorrow. I wonder what the preacher will have to say about that? Nothing quite like this has happened here before." She joked.

"O, so now I have to go and tell everyone about it?" A hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"I'm just sayin' someone might have good advice for this sort of thing." She defended.

"Alright will see." Luke stood up grabbing his wallet from off the counter as he did. "I'm gonna go into town and pick up some things for dinner tonight need anything?"

"Actually I've been meaning to get a new book to read. I'm gonna head to Melvin's Book store." She stood as well.

"Alright, I"ll see you later then." Luke and Rebecca headed out the door and went their separate ways.


	2. The Moment

It is now ten in the morning. Sarah was at the beauty shop along with Rachel, Wendy, Abigail, and Sky getting there nails done. Sarah actually worked there from time to time, so the girls often got there nails done free, everyone that worked their knew who they were, they would come in several times a month. Today Sarah decided to paint her nails a rose tinted color to match her glasses.

"So Sarah, wheres Clem? I thought shed be coming with us?" Abigail sat in a chair on the far side of the group next to Sky. It wasn't very busy today at the shop, the only people there being the girls and the workers.

"yeah, she wasn't with you when you knocked on my door." Put in Rachel.

"O she went out with Tommy today." Sarah put her hands on the table she was seated at to begin applying the scarlet nail polish.

"Ooo looks like someones in love!" Wendy teased as an emerald shade of nail polish was being applied to her nails.

Sarah sighed "Tell me about it." Tilting her head back into the back of her chair.

"Whats wrong Sarah?" Sky questioned, wondering how she could help out her friend. "You seem down." She was getting her nails done a turquoise color.  
"Its nothing."

"Come on, we all know something ain't right. This isn't you." Sky eager to get the whole story. She took a sip of a glass of pink lemonade that each of the girls had been given.

"Well, its...just Clem hasn't been around much." She began now facing the girls trying to explain.

"It has been a while since we all hung out." Put in Rachel, getting a coat of an autumn orange color on her nails.

"Exactly!" Said Sarah. "I had planned on spending the day with her today, but instead shes off with Tommy to who knows where!' She huffed. "She didn't even tell me that shed be going out today until this morning when Luke made her tell him. Its like she doesn't even care anymore!" She was on the verge of tears, but kept them at bay.

"Now don't say that Sarah. You and Clementine are like sisters." Said Abigail getting her nails done an indigo color mixed with a purple color.

"Yeah, shes just a little boy crazy right now." Put in Wendy, "Giver some time she'll come around."

"Besides, we still got your back." Said Sky.

"Thanks girls." Sarah said, felling better about her situation.

"So" Started Rachel. "Has she kissed him yet?" She was practically begging for an answer.

All the girls waited impatiently for an answer from the girl with the glasses. Sarah found it amusing. "No, not yet." She shook her head no.  
"Really after all this time she's been datin' him?"

"Luke wont let her." Sarah explained. "That was one of the agreements they made so Luke would let her date him."

"Really not even in secret?" Sky asked wanting to get as much gossip in as possible.

"No, she doesn't want to risk loosing him if Luke ever found out." Sarah said brushing some hair out of her eyes. "Even if she did I would know about it. I'd figure it out eventually, considering we share a room."

"Aww that's sooo cute!" Rachel awed. The girls now just waiting for the nail polish to dry, while sipping on pink lemonade.

* * *

"Please tell me! Were not even in town anymore, where could we be going?" Clementine and Tommy where still driving to this unknown location, Clem not giving up on trying to figure out where he was taking her to.

"Clem, i'm not giving in... besides were almost their. He grinned focusing back on the road. _"Shes gonna be surprised once she realizes where were headed."_ He thought.

"Almost there? Were out in the middle of the woods, on a dirt road, where could we possibly..." Tommy turned down a new dirt path, one that looked like it hadn't been used in ages. She looked out the window starting to recognize some of the scenery. She gasped. "I know where we are!"

As she said that he pulled up and stopped the car in front of a small lake in the middle of the woods. It was perfect here. The water was clear blue color and the grass was always soft and green, the trees provided just enough shade from the sun, and no other people were ever here. Clem, Tommy, and the girls would always hang out here, but its been awhile since anyone has been here.

"What are we doing here?" She was puzzled. They only came here when all of them wanted to hang out together. She hopped out of the truck.

"I thought we could spend our time out here." Tommy pulled out a blanket from the back seat of the truck for them to sit on. "After all this is your favorite spot."

It was true, after all of the times they went out coming here was one of her best memories. "You know me so well." She smirked.

Tommy grabbed her hand. "Come on lets go!" He walked her over to a spot a couple yards away from the water and spread out the blanket. Clem sat down, followed by Tommy. He sat back leaning on his hands holding him up behind him.

"How'd you think of coming here?" She asked.  
"I just thought it'd be the perfect place for our date. No one ever comes here besides us and its the perfect day for it."

"That's sweet." She smiled at him. Then she looked confused. Tommy got up and rolled up his jeans so they were folded at his knees and took off his shoes. "What are you doing?"

"Well are you coming or not?" He ran over and stepped into the water.

"Yeah, I'm coming! Just give me a minute!" She took her shoes off then slid her western shirt off leaving Clem in her white tank top and her jeans that were rolled up half way to her knees. She walked up to the edge of the water and stepped in. She shivered a little, the water being slightly cold, but it felt nice since it was hot that day.

All of a sudden she got hit with a splash of cold water. "Hey!" She teased looking over at her boyfriend.

"O, did I do that?" He joked, trying to hold back a laugh.

"O its on now!" Clem splashed back, laughing as she did so.

Tommy looked away as the water hit him, soaking his clothes. He looked over at Clem who was trying to hold back a laugh. He smirked. "Well theirs only one thing to do now."

"Whats that?" She giggled.

"Get you back!" He hit the lake at just the right angle covering Clementine in a shower of water. He laughed, running farther out to try and avoid her splashes.

"Get back here!" She yelled playfully, running through the shallow part of the water after him. She didn't care about getting wet anymore and was now trying to push him down into the water.

"your gonna have ta try better than that." He teased.  
"Just watch me."

Clem pushed him one last time and they both fell into the lake, laughing about their little water fight, both now completely soaked.

* * *

Two hours later Clementine and Tommy had finally gotten out of the lake to dry off after falling in and getting soaked. Clem sat on the bed of his truck, ringing the water out of her hair and clothes the best she could.

"Here." Tommy called, handing her a towel that he had put in the backseat of his truck.

"Thanks." She gladly accepted the towel and started drying herself off soaking up most off the water, her clothes were only a little damp now.

"Now all we have to do is let the sun work its magic and will be dry in no time." He grabbed Clem's hand and she jumped off the bed of the truck. "Wanna sit on the blanket in the sun?"  
"I'd like that."

They walked over,still holding hands and sat down. The sun had warmed the blanket up,so it felt nice to just relax. Clem put her western shirt back on. Tommy leaned back, laying down, putting his hands behind his head as a makeshift pillow. "I could lay here all day, just you and me."

"You said it." Clem laid down and put her head on his chest. Tommy wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. She snuggled into his embrace and sighed contently, closing her eyes. "Thank you." She said.

"For what?" He looked down at her.

"For this." She said. "Sometimes its nice to just go somewhere quiet and relax. We don't always need to go somewhere fancy when everything we need is right here." She pointed out.

"I couldn't agree more." He closed his eyes and rubbed her back with his free hand.

Clem loved doing this, it felt like nothing could ever ruin this moment, everything was perfect. She listened to the sound of his heartbeat, relaxing her. She felt her hat being taken off of her head. Tommy ran his fingers through her black curly hair, it always calmed her down. Much like when Lee used to do it when she was younger and she would have nightmares and would end up sleeping with him. She smiled and within a few more heartbeats she was asleep.

They both laid there in the sun peacefully sleeping, enjoying each others embrace.

* * *

A couple hours later a cool breeze blew past. Clementine shivered, she opened her eyes and sat up. Clem and Tommy were in the same exact place that they fell asleep in. It was now a little past three so the sun was covered by the trees and the wind had picked up a little. Clem wrapped her arms around herself. Tommy sat up. "Here use this." He slid off his jacket and put it around Clem.  
"What about you?"

Tommy got up and walked to the truck and turned on the radio so they could listen to music."I'll be fine." He waved her off. "Remember the first time I gave you my jacket? At the drive in."He sat back down next to her.

She giggled. "How could I not. That was the day you asked me out."

Tommy laughed. "Remember the guy up front was drunk and ran into the car next to him setting off the alarm."

She smirked. "It was kind of hard to notice with how nervous you were acting. You kind of dropped the popcorn on the ground." Clem knew she had him cornered now.

Tommy blushed a little. "Hey, I didn't know if you were gonna say yes." He put up his hands defensively. "I was a nervous wreak." He smiled pulling her closer. "I'm glad you said yes though."

She smiled back. "I'm glad you asked."

Then something suddenly came over her as she stared at him. They were inches away and as if on cue they leaned in close, and letting his lips meet hers, he kissed her. She was a little surprised at first, but closed her eyes and kissed him back. She put her hands behind his neck, and his were wrapped around her waist as they got deeper into the kiss.

The kiss ended seconds later and they slowly broke apart. He looked into her golden eyes and she looked into his, both smiling. He knew she had never kissed anyone before, not even him, but all he could think about was how great of a kiss that was. It was like nothing he had ever felt like before.

Clem thought that was the best thing in the world. She had never kissed a guy before and what just happened made her fall in love with Tommy even more. Then it suddenly hit her. " _What if Luke found out?"_


	3. Breaking Hearts

She kissed him! She actually kissed him... what would she do?

If Luke found out he would...  
No, she couldn't think about it, not right now. She didn't want to screw up the moment. She moved the thought to the back of her mind and focused back in on the real world.

"Hey, you okay?" She heard Tommy ask. He must of caught her in her daze of thought.

"W-what, y-yeah I'm fine." She tried to sound as calm as possible. She cleared her throat, swallowing her nervousness away. "Just got lost in the moment I guess." She sent him a smile. "Thank you for such a wonderful time."

Tommy's look of worry subsided and he smiled back as well. "I had a great time too. We should do this again sometime."

"We should." She told him. _"As long as Luke doesn't find out we kissed"_ She thought.

"I wish we could stay longer." He said.

"Yeah, I do too. But Luke will get on my case if I'm late for dinner." She wished this could last forever, but Luke would give her hell if she was late. Plus the sun was already starting to set and it would be dark in a few hours.

"Then I think it's about time I drove you home little lady." He said.

Tommy helped her stand and proceeded to fold up the blanket that they were seated on moments ago, while Clem hopped into the passenger seat of his pickup truck. Tommy opened up the driver's side door and tossed the blanket into the backseat. Then turned the keys to start the truck. The engine roared to life and he turned the truck around and headed down the poorly made trail that lead to the old dirt road that would lead them into town.

Clem looked out the rolled down window, thinking about how she was going to keep this whole kissing thing a secret. Not only could she not let Luke find out, but she also never told Tommy that she wasn't allowed to kiss him. He just always thought that she wasn't comfortable with it and would just accept it when she was ready. She listened to a song playing on the radio playing close attention to the words.

 _"Her daddy says he ain't worth a lick_

 _When it comes to brains, he got the short end of the stick_  
 _But Katie's young and man, she just don't care_  
 _She'd follow Tommy anywhere_

 _She's in love with the boy_  
 _She's in love with the boy_  
 _She's in love with the boy_  
 _And even if they have to run away_

 _She's gonna marry that boy someday_ _"_

Clementine chuckled a little. _"Kind of like us."_ She thought. It wasn't like Luke didn't trust Tommy, just that he was too overprotective of Clementine and thought she was too young to be dating and especially to be kissing him.

What was she going to do.

* * *

It was a little after three when Sarah and Rachel walked across Sarah's yard. They stopped about half way to the door and turned to talk to each other.

"So tonight we were going to have a sleepover at Abigail's house and we wanted to know if you'd be interested in coming?" Rachel looked to Sarah for a response.

Sarah smiled. "I'd love to, just have to ask Luke and Rebecca first. I'll text you to tell you what's going on."

"Gotcha." Rachel was about to turn and leave when she suddenly stopped. "O, and see if Clementine wants to come too. That is if she gets home in time."

"Sure, see you later!" Sarah waved goodbye to Rachel who waved back and proceeded to run across the street to her house and get ready for tonight.

Sarah walked to the backdoor and opened the screen door to find Luke in the kitchen cooking dinner

Luke looked up as she entered. "Hey Sarah."  
"Hey."

Just then Rebecca entered the room coming from the living room with her new book in hand. "Hey your back. So how did it go?" She took a seat at the table and set the book down to listen to what Sarah had to say. Luke was listening as well while he worked.

Sarah lightened up at the question. "Good, I got my nails done. Same color as my glasses." She held her hand out for Rebecca to see.

She studied her hands. "They look beautiful. Red seems to be your color." Rebecca stated.

"Thank you. Therese actually something I wanted to ask you guys." Sarah got a little nervous wondering what there response would be to her question. "The girls are having a sleepover at Abigail's tonight and I was wondering if I could go?"

Luke had turned around to listen to Sarah's question. He looked to Rebecca. "What do you think Becc?"

She thought about it for a minute. "Its alright with me as long as your okay with it."  
"Its fine with me. Just don't go gettin' in trouble"

"Thanks!" Sarah beamed. "I'm gonna go get my things together." She ran from the kitchen, into the living room, up the stairs, and to her and Clementine's bedroom that they shared. Upstairs there was a bathroom then Rebecca's bedroom, clementine and Sarah's room, and at the end of the hallway was Luke's room. There was also a closet on the left side of the hallway, down closer by Luke's room. Sarah started to gather her things together.

* * *

Tommy pulled into the yard a little ways and stopped the truck. Both him and Clem hopped out. She walked up to him.

"Thanks for a wonderful time." He thought she was going to kiss him again but instead she hugged him, putting her arms around his neck. He didn't understand why she went for a hug, _'Did she not like the kiss?','Was there something wrong?'_. She did act a little weird after they kissed. But Tommy didn't know she wasn't allowed to kiss him. He returned the hug anyway and smiled as she turned to leave. "I love you!" He said.

"I love you too, bye!" Clem waved back to him. He turned and got back into his truck and drove away.

Clem walked to the back door thinking about what she just did. She had wanted to kiss him goodbye, but she couldn't risk getting caught. Now here came the hard part keeping her secret from not only Luke and Rebecca, but also Sarah. If Sarah found out her cover would be blown. Word would get out eventually and then Luke would find out. She also had to keep Tommy from telling them without telling him that she wasn't allowed to kiss him. He would feel terrible if she told him that.

She walked in the backdoor seeing Luke making dinner with the groceries he had bought earlier today and Rebecca reading her new book while she waited for everyone else.

"Cutting it a little close are we?" Luke's voice pulled her out of her train of thought. "Sorry, it was just a long drive back. But I still got here on time."

"So what did you do today?" Luke asked her.

Oh no. Clem felt her face heat up as her mind went straight to the kiss that her and Tommy had shared. She knew she was blushing, but she couldn't let them see. She looked away slightly to keep her face hidden from his eyesight. "O, um I need to do something. I'll tell you later." With that she ran from the room and upstairs to her bedroom before they could say anything else.

"Well that was weird." Luke was puzzled. Clem never ran from a conversation unless she was nervous or had something to hide. Luke had learned to pick up her behavior from hanging around her for so long.

"Maybe she just doesn't want to talk about it right now?" Rebecca looked to Luke to see his expression.

"I don't know Becc. I think somethings up." Luke looked to the stairs that Clem had just walked up puzzled by the way she acted.

* * *

Clementine shut the door behind her as she entered her and Sarah's room. Sarah looked up from her packing to see who had entered the room. "Clem your back!" Sarah was a little unhappy since Clem had spent the whole day out with Tommy and not her and her friends.

"Yeah Tommy just dropped me off." She saw that Sarah had a backpack sitting on her bed and other things that were laid out. "What's going on in here?"

"O I almost forgot. The girls are all having a sleepover at Abigail's house tonight. I'm going over and they wanted to know if you would like to come too?" Sarah was in a much better mood since now could be the time for them to hang out together. Then she held out her phone. "You in? I'm going to text Rachel our plan."

"yeah, sure, it sounds like fun." Clem was just glad Sarah didn't ask about what she did today.

"So what did you and Tommy do today?" _"Dammit"_ Clem inwardly swore.

"O...um.. we went down to the l..lake and hung out. Th..that's all." Clem's nerves got the best of her as she tried to hide the blush on her face.

Sarah caught on immediately. "That's not all that happened." She smirked. "So what did happened?"

"W...what I..I don't know what your talking about?" Clem lied. She could feel her face heat up.

Sarah knew Clementine was embarrassed about something and she knew that she had her cornered. "Come on just tell me. I know something different happened and it's not like you kissed him or..." Clem blushed even more just as Sarah said those words.

She picked up on it immediately. "O my gosh you kissed him! You actually kissed him!" Sarah shouted.

"Shhhh." Clem put her hands up to get Sarah to be quiet. She looked to the door and listened for any sign that someone else heard. "I can't let Luke or Rebecca find out."

"O my gosh, Clem. That's so sweet. Did he kiss you or did you kiss him? Was it a good kiss?" Sarah just kept asking questions which Clem wasn't going to answer anyway. Sarah grabbed her phone. "I'm telling the girls right away!"

Clementine's eyes widened. "No!" She grabbed the phone out of Sarah's hands and threw it onto the bed.

"Clem what the heck?" Sarah glared at her clearly not happy with the way Clem acted. "You could of just broke my phone." She picked it up to make sure it wasn't damaged.

"I'm sorry, but you can't tell anyone, not even the girls. If anyone found out they'd tell Luke." Worry filled her voice. "Please Sarah don't tell anyone. I need you to promise me you wont tell anyone."

"Fine!" Sarah was still a little ticked off at Clem for leaving her today and taking her phone away. "I promise." They both locked there pinkies together to make it official.

Then they heard a voice. "Girls come on down stairs!" It was Rebecca calling them down for dinner.

Clem opened the door and walked down the stairs to the living room and into the kitchen. Sarah stayed behind for a minute to put the rest of her stuff into her backpack, then she picked it up and brought it downstairs with her and placed it by her chair at the table.

Luke tried to start a conversation. "So Clem, its later."

She was confused by what he meant. "What?"

Luke responded like it wasn't a big deal, but he secretly wanted to know everything that happened. The way she acted earlier told him that something was wrong. "What did you do today? You said that you would tell us later."

Clem blushed remembering that she didn't want Luke finding out about the kiss. Rebecca jabbed him in his side with her elbow. "Luke!" She whispered.

"Ow!" Luke rubbed his side where she had hit him. "What?" She was getting annoyed with Luke trying to pry into Clementine's personal life. If she didn't want to talk about it she didn't have to.

Clem thought _"The sooner I tell him the sooner hi'll drop it. Then we never have to go through this again. Hopefully."_ She took a deep breath. "We...just sat d-down by the lake and talked. Th-that's all." Clem felt her face heat up in embarrassment.

Luke looked at thinking that wasn't all she did. "That's it?"

"Yep." Clem didn't want to make eye contact with him, fearing that she would slip up and give it away.

"So..." Sarah began. "Clem is coming with me to Abigail's. Is that alright?"

Rebecca put her fork down for a minute. "It's alright with me." She looked to Luke for a response. "That's fine."

Luke thought about it for a minute. "It's just gonna be you girls there? No boys, right?"

Clem decided to play around with him. "Well..."

This got Sarah agitated. She knew Clem was only joking, but did she have to bring Tommy into everything. "Clem I swear if you bring him up I'm going to call it off."

"Whats gotten into you?" Clem yelled back. "I was just kidding!" She didn't understand what Sarah was so upset about.

Luke and Rebecca just sat back and watched, they didn't know what to do. It wasn't like Clem and Sarah to argue like this.

"Are you kidding me!" Sarah yelled. "Your always with him. You barely hang out with me anymore and your always talking about him."

"At least I have a boyfriend!" Clem shot back as she folded her arms.

This pushed Sarah over the edge and before she even thought about it she said. "Well your the one who kissed him!" As soon as those words left her mouth she covered it with her hand.

Clementine's eyes widened. Rebecca almost choked, but managed to swallow. Luke however dropped his fork hearing it clank on the floor. "The fuck?" He yelled. He looked to Clem. "What did she just say?"

Clem's heart sped up as she tried to look for a way out. "I...um...I-I..." She couldn't think of an excuse.

Luke stood up clearly angry with her for disobeying his rules. "No, that's it." He started raising his voice louder. "You'r no longer aloud to see him!" He told her.

"What, no!" Clem jumped to her feet pushing her chair out of the way. "You can't do that!" Her heart was breaking. "No you...you don't have the right to, that's not..."

"Don't argue with me!" He pointed to the stairs. "Your grounded and your not going to this sleepover either!"

Rebecca didn't know what to do.

Clem had tears in her eyes. She turned and ran before they began to fall. She ran up to her room and slammed the door shut. She threw herself onto her bed and began to cry into her pillow.

Sarah felt terrible for what she had just done. She just gave away her best friend's biggest secret

Luke sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, clearly stressed out from what just happened. "You can leave now Sarah, Clem's not going, but you can still sleepover tonight."

"Al-alright." Sarah picked up her backpack that lay at her feet. "Bye." She said in a unsure kind of way. Then she headed out the door. She really needed to talk to the girls.

* * *

Sarah had walked to Abigail's house to meet up with the girls. She knocked on the door and was greeted by Abigail and Rachel.

"Hey Sarah, glad you could make it." Abigail greeted. "Wheres Clem?"

Sarah walked into the living room where she found the rest of the girls. All eyes where on Sarah as they waited for an answer from the raven haired girl. "Girls we need to talk." She said as she put her backpack on.

They all looked to her, worried that something had happened to Clementine. Sky was the first to speak. "Is everything all right?"

Sarah sat down on the floor next to them. "Okay, so it went like this. Clem came home after her date with Tommy today and she started acting kind of weird. I come to find out that she had kissed him."

"O my god!" Shouted Rachel. "She finally kissed him? That's so sweet." She put her hand over her heart.

"Waiti'd go Clem!" Put in Wendy.

Sky looked confused. "But I don't get it. What's so bad about that?"

"I was just getting to that." Sarah explained, everyone focused back on her. "You see once I found out I wanted to tell you girls, but Clem freaked out because she didn't want Luke to find out and grabbed my phone, throwing it onto my bed. I got mad at her then we had a fight during dinner and I accidentally told Luke that she kissed Tommy." She took a moment to catch her breath then continued on. "Luke then said she wasn't allowed to see him ever again and grounded her for who knows how long. Then Clem ran away crying."

Sarah looked around at the other girls to see shocked faces.

"Luke really told her that? I feel so sorry for her." Abigail didn't really think Luke would take it that far.

Wendy crossed her arms. "Man that's got to be tough."

Sarah was starting to feel worse. "It'll be okay though, I mean it's just a silly crush right? Hes only her first boyfriend." Sarah said hopefully.

Rachel stared at her wide eyed. "Are you kidding me! Have you seen the way she looks at him?"

"And the way he looks at her?" Put in Sky.

"How he takes care of her?" Added Abigail.

Wendy sighed. "Face it Sarah, those two were made for each other. I would think you of all people would notice."

Sarah put her head in her hands. "O no! What have I done?" She looked back up. "Girls I need your help."

Rachel stood up and grabbed there attention. "There's got to be something we can do. Any ideas?"

"We could go ask Tommy what to do or convince Luke to let Clem be with him?" Suggested Abigail.

Sarah thought about it. "I don't think Luke will be changing his mind anytime soon, but talking to Tommy might help. I think we should try it."  
"Then let's go then."

They all got up and ran out the door in search for Tommy.

* * *

Tommy had just gotten home and was about to shut the door to his truck when he noticed something on the far side of the seat. He looked to find Clementine's phone sitting there. "Huh, she must of dropped it when she got out of the truck." He picked it up and hopped back into the truck, deciding to return it to her.

* * *

Luke had gone to sit outside, not really caring at the moment about how Clementine had reacted. She had gone against his wishes and broke his number one rule, _Do not kiss him._ There was something else Luke was worried about, but he knew both teens had grown up in the apocalypse and probably wouldn't even know what it was.

Rebecca however had watched the whole thing go down, she didn't know what to do. Sarah and Clem had never fought like that and she had no idea Luke was going to react like that. One thing for sure was that she needed to talk with Clementine. If she was being honest with her self, she didn't agree with Luke at all. Rebecca thought it was cute for Clem to have a boyfriend, it was sweet how they looked out for one another. Luke always got on her case about him. If Clem didn't want to talk about it she didn't have to and who cares if they kissed. It was sweet and didn't do anything to harm anyone. Why was Luke so upset about it?

Rebecca sighed as she walked up the stairs and down the hall, thinking it over. She knocked on Clementine's bedroom door.

"Go away!" She heard a muffled yell come from the other side of the door.

She knocked again gently. "Clem its me, Rebecca. Can you please open the door?"

Clem got up, even though she was annoyed to have to do this, and wiped the tears from her eyes with her arm, having taken off her western shirt and was left in her white tank top. She walked to the door and unlocked it opening it up to see Rebecca standing in the hallway. "What is it?" Clem asked trying not to get choked up. She had her arms crossed.

Rebecca looked into her eyes. Clem was trying not to cry, but was failing. She had tears in her eyes and they were red from all of the crying she had been doing. "I just wanted to talk...about earlier."

"Therese nothing to say." Clem sniffled as she walked back into the dark bedroom and sat on the edge of her bed, her arms still crossed.

Rebecca followed her inside leaving the door open a little to light up the room some. "Clem I want you to know that I don't agree with Luke."

Clem looked over to her as Rebecca sat on the edge of the bed next to her. "W-what d-do you mean?" A few tears slipped out of her eyes.

"What I means is that I don't think Luke should of done that to you. I think its cute that you love him and it shouldn't matter if you kissed or not." She sighed looking to Clementine. "You should be allowed to see Tommy, Luke can't just make you break up like this."

Clem's eyes started to water. "Why did he do this to me." She started to cry, tears leaking out of her eyes. She buried her face into her already wet pillow again as she continued to cry. "I-I...I love him."

Rebecca rubbed her back to try and calm her down. "Shh its okay. Its okay." No matter how much she tried Clementine couldn't stop crying. Her heart was broken.

* * *

Meanwhile, Tommy was driving down the road to Clementine's house when he spotted Sarah and her friends walking down the side of the road. He stopped and pulled over, jumping out of his truck.

"Sarah, hey Sarah over here!" He waved to them and made his way over.

"Hey Tommy we were just coming to see you." She stared at him nervously, not quite sure how to tell him that the love of his life was no longer allowed to see him.

He looked confused. "Why were you coming to see me?" He gestured to himself. "You know what never mind." He waved them off. "You can tell me in a minute. But I need to know. Is Clem with you? She left her phone in my truck and I was going to take it back to her, but then I saw you guys down the road and thought she might be with you."

Sarah bit her lip, hopping he didn't take it to hard. "Tommy that's just it. We came to see you because Clem's grounded and she's not allowed to see you anymore b-because...she kissed you."

Tommy dropped her phone out of complete shock, having it land on the dirt covered ground. "What! What do you mean she's not allowed to see me again?" That had to be some kind of mistake, she was everything to him. Maybe he just heard her wrong.

Sarah had been dreading his reaction. She tried to explain. "Luke found out that she had kissed you and told her that she wasn't allowed to see you again."

He couldn't believe it. "No...t-that can't..." Tommy was at a loss for words. His heart was breaking.

* * *

 **Sorry it took so long to update. It was hard to find a way to begin this chapter without making it to awkward between the two of them. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter its longer than usual. I will hopefully have another chapter by next weekend, but i can't make any promises.**


	4. Heartbreak Sets In

"No, that can't...what do I..." Tommy paced back and forth, putting his hands on his head in frustration.

Rachel cut in stepping forward to try and calm him down. "Tommy you need to chill out! We can't do anything about it like this!" She gestured to him.

He stopped. "I know I'm just so ticked off. Err!" He hit the side of his truck clearly frustrated with himself. He rested his hands on top of it. Regaining his sanity he ran his hand through his hair. "This is all my fault."

Sky was surprised to hear this and raised a brow in confusion. "Wait, what do you mean'All your fault'. Clem kissed you right?" She crossed her arms waiting for an answer.

Tommy looked at her like she was crazy. "What, no. I kissed her. Back at the lake we were just talking and the moment just fit. I had no idea this was going to happen! Besides if she knew she would get in trouble why would she be the one to kiss me?"

Abigail put a hand up. "Hold on, you mean to say that Clem never told you that she wasn't aloud to kiss you?"

Tommy shook his head. "No. She never told me anything about that." Wendy crossed her arms. "That's not like her to just not say anything."

He shook his head again. "No, she wouldn't. She wouldn't tell me something like that. How could she? Probably thought it would make me feel terrible if she said she wasn't aloud to kiss me. I always just thought she wasn't comfortable with it and she would accept it when she was ready. Shoot, this really is all my fault." He started pacing again.

Sarah had to tell him the truth,, He may have kissed her, but she was the one who blew the secret. "Actually, if it's anyone's fault its mine." Sarah looked down in shame.

He stopped. "What do you mean?" He stared intently at her, waiting for an answer.

"I'm the one who told Luke you guys kissed. I got mad at her for always leaving me to go hang out with you and accidentally yelled out that she kissed you."

Rachel tried to reassure her. "Sarah it's not entirely your fault." She put an arm round Sarah's shoulders.

"But I'm also the one who made her tell me. She usually tells me what she does when she gets home." Sarah was on the verge of tears. "I knew she didn't want to tell me something and I should of respected her privacy, but I made her tell me anyway." A few tears rolled down her face. She felt terrible for what she had done to Clementine and Tommy. "It's all my fault. I'm so s-sorry"

Tommy had leaned up against his truck and folded his arms, angry with himself for what he had done. He sighed. In truth he was a little ticked at Sarah for blowing the secret, but he wasn't going to hold it against her. "Sarah I'm not mad at you. I'm just upset. I mean what am I supposed to do now?" He had opened his truck door and sat down on the floor of it, his feet on the step used to get in the truck easier. He rested his elbows on his knees with his hands draped down in front of him.

Sarah couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was completely wrong about Clem and Tommy. "I always thought Clem just had a silly crush, but... you really do love her... don't you?"

He smiled a little. "Clementine means everything to me. I've had a few girlfriends in my life time, but I've never felt this way about anyone besides Clementine."

"Aww." The girls all awed at how sweet that was.

"The way she smiles at me when I talk, how she puts her hands behind my neck when I hug her. I love looking into her golden eyes and the way she keeps her hair short with the hat that she wears. The way she's not afraid of anything." He chuckled. "Even when she playfully tries to get me back for something I say."

"That's so sweet." Sky said.

"Gosh I miss her." Even though he had just spent almost the entire day with her. "What am I gonna do?"

Sarah spoke up. "I promise I'll help you to fix this, even though Clem probably hates me. I'll see if I can get her phone to her, that way you can still talk to her. As long as Luke doesn't take it."

"Will all help. Clem's our friend too." Put in Rachel.

"Really?" Tommy asked.

Wendy nodded. She put her hand out. "For Clementine!"

One by one they all put there hands in agreeing to help try and get Clementine and Tommy back together. Even if it meant taking extreme measures.

* * *

Rebecca had left Clementine's room to give her some time to herself. Plus she wanted to give Luke a piece of her mind. She might not be able to change his mind, but she wasn't just gonna let this go.

Luke walked into the living room from the front door after sitting out on the porch. He spotted Rebecca. "Hey Becc! How is she?"

Rebecca glared at him, what he did ticked her off. "How could you do this to her? You have some nerve."

Luke wasn't expecting this from Rebecca. "Hey, it's not my fault she broke the rules."

She threw her hands in the air. "What is the matter with you? There is literally no reason for you to be keeping her from him! Have you seen what you've done to her? Clementines heartbroken!"

Luke folded his arms, narrowing his eyes. "Clem's' my responsibility. She's gonna listen to me!"

Rebecca hit him in the shoulder as she walked past. "When are you going to realize that you can't stop love."

Luke scoffed. "She'll get over it!" He yelled back. "It's just a stupid crush." He said to himself as he walked away. "She'll get over it,she'll get over it."

But she didn't. A week had past and Clem barely ever left her room, let alone her bed. She only left to either get something to eat or drink, or to use the bathroom. Sarah had given Clem her phone back after she had returned from Abigail's house. The girls and surprisingly Tommy had stayed up most of the night trying to come up with a way to fix there situation with no luck.

Clem barley talked to Sarah anymore. When Sarah had given her back her phone Clem took it out of her hand and whispered a thank you. Then she turned her back to Sarah and faced her wall while laying on her bed. Sarah had tried to apologize, but Clem wouldn't respond.

It was even worse for Luke. He had tried to come into her room to talk with her, but she ignored him. If she ran into him in the hallway she wouldn't say anything and would run right back into her room. The only person she would talk to was Rebecca every once in a while. She did text Tommy at first, it was the only way to keep in touch with him. She didn't dare call him for fear Luke would find out. Eventually he did find out and took it from her. She didn't talk to her friends either, she was just too heartbroken and didn't have the will to do anything.

* * *

It was now Saturday again, and after a week of Clementine not coming out of her room, it was starting to push Luke over the edge.

"Alright that's it." Luke stood from his seat aggravated. The kid was starting to get on his nerves. "It's been a week and she still won't talk to anyone!"

Rebecca didn't even bother to look up from her book. "That's what you get for breaking a little girls heart."

"I didn't! It's just a stupid crush." He scowled.

"Then why is she still locking herself in her room?" She threw back at him.

"You know what Becc..." He couldn't come up with a comeback. "Ugh I'm going out." He walked out the front door slamming it shut.

Rebecca laughed at his reaction.

Just then Sarah walked through the kitchen door way.

"Hey Sarah."

"Hey."

"What's going on."

She sighed. "Clem still won't talk to me."

"Don't worry She'll come around eventually. Clem's just heartbroken right now"

Sarah put her head in her hands. "Just face it. I blew her biggest secret and broke her and Tommy up. She's never gonna speak to me again. Me and the girls haven't come up with a solution and neither has Tommy."

"Perfect." Said Rebecca.

Sarah was confused. "Why is that perfect?"

Rebecca smiled. "You have everyone's phone number right?"

"Yeah. Why's that important."

"Even Tommy's?"

"Yeah. He gave us all his phone number encase something new happened or we found a solution." She pulled out her phone and set it on the table.

"Good. Now I want you to call everyone. I've got a plan."

Sarah's face light up into a smile. "Really! You think we've got a shot."

"When Luke sees this he'll see he's wrong and Clem and Tommy should be back together in no time." Then her face changed from a smile to wonder as she thought about the plan. "The only problem is where do we meet up? It can't be here since Clem and Luke live here, and it can't be Rachel's house since she lives across the street. Plus Luke is out and he might see us."

Sarah smiled this time. "I think I know of a place. What if we go down to the lake, no one besides us ever goes down there, and I doubt anyone will find us there."

"Perfect." Said Rebecca. She stood walked to the counter and picked something up. "And lucky for us Luke left the keys to the truck."

Sarah dialed Rachel's number on her phone and waited till she heard someone pick up. "Rachel, it's me Sarah. Get the girls together cause we've got a plan."

"Really, what is it?" She said from the other end of the phone.

"I'm not sure, but Rebecca is going to help us and she says that she has a plan. Now I need you to call the girls. Tell them you, me, Rebecca, and Wendy are driving together. Will come and pick you up. I'm going to call Tommy and he's going to pick up Sky and Abigail. Where meeting at the Lake." The raven haired girl explained.

"Alright got it!." Rachel gave a thumbs up even though Sarah couldn't see her.

"One more thing, don't tell anyone else. Luke is also out, so try not to get caught by him. We don't want him finding out."

"Gotch ya. See you soon." Rachel hung up.

Sarah then proceeded to call Tommy. She talked in a low voice so Clementine didn't over hear, even though she was in her bedroom. _"Hello."_ A voice answered on the other end of the line. "Tommy, it's Sarah. Listen, I think we may have figured out a way to get you and Clem back together."

"O my gosh really! What are we doing." He was excited to finally have a chance in getting back together with his girl.

"I can't talk here, but listen. Rachel is calling the other girls. Her and Wendy are coming with me and Rebecca. I need you to pick up Sky and Abigail, then meet us at the Lake. And one more thing don't let Luke find you. He's out somewhere and I doubt it be a good idea form him to see you right now."

"Sure thing. Bye." He hung up the phone.

Sarah hung up her own phone and put it in her back pocket. "Ready to go?" She asked Rebecca.

"Just let me tell Clem where leaving." She walked up the stairs and opened Clementine and Sarah's bedroom door. "Hey Clem me and Sarah are leaving to...to go to... the store. Luke's gone as well. I don't know when he'll be back."

Clem didn't move from her spot on the bed, but did respond. "Alright, bye." She said in a whispered voice.

Rebecca turned and closed the door, walking back down the stairs to meet up with Sarah.

* * *

 **Chapter four is finally done. Chapter five (and possibly six, but I'm not making any promises) should be out soon, since I have some time off of school next week. Hope you enjoyed the story so far. Don't forget to write any reviews and let me know if I need to work on anything. I know it's not perfect.**


	5. You Will Always Be In My Heart

Clementine heard the door close, then sat up from her bed. She was glad she had the house to herself. Shed been stuck inside her bedroom all morning and hadn't come out once. Now she could do whatever she wanted without having everyone trying to talk to her. Which was good because now she really needed to pee since she couldn't go to the bathroom earlier. Now her bladder was killing her. She got up and relieved it, then headed downstairs to get something to eat.

She sat down at the table and sighed. She missed Tommy. How he used to run his fingers through her hair, the way he would always say I love you when ever she left, his cute smile...But most importantly how she would feel safe in his embrace whenever he would wrap his arms around her when he would hug her or pull her in close. A tear rolled down her face. What she wouldn't do right now just to see him, just to tell him how much she loved him.

She sighed again. Finishing her late breakfast she got up. Clem didn't know when Luke would be back and she didn't plan on being out of her bedroom when he got hear.

* * *

Rebecca and Sarah had picked up Rachel and Wendy and were now following Tommy's truck to the Lake after he had picked up Sky and Abigail.

The tension was high. Everyone wanted to know what the plan was. If it meant getting Clem and Tommy back together anything was worth a shot. Why couldn't Luke see that they were meant for each other.

They had reached the edge of town and made there way into the woods. They continued down the path for about five minutes until Tommy turned into a new path. Rebecca followed closely behind. A few seconds later Tommy pulled over and stopped. Rebecca did the same and everyone jumped out of the truck.

Wendy was the first to speak. "Ok, so what exactly is going on here?"

Rebecca put a hand up. "Hold on. Lets get situated first."

They walked a couple feet away and sat in a circle, so everyone could face each other and listen. Tommy spoke up asking the question that was on everyone's mind.. "So you figured out a way to get us back together?"

"Well the way I see it, your not the problem Tommy." Said Rebecca.

"What...I don't understand. Isn't Luke upset with me for kissing her?" Tommy gestured to himself.

"No...not exactly. You see Over the years Luke has known Clem, he's gotten attached to her. He treats her like his own daughter and just wants to look out for her. But now he's gotten too overprotective and doesn't want to let her go.

"That's it?" Questioned Abigail. "Therese not some major problem?"

She continued. "The whole reason Luke didn't want Clem to kiss Tommy was because he thought by doing so she would only fall in love with him more and wouldn't care about him anymore." Rebecca tried to explain the situation, but it's kind of hard to explain love. "So he made up these silly rules, like she couldn't kiss him and what not. Then when he found out he just lost it and this happened. Truth is he thinks Clementines the one who kissed you. So you see he's got nothing against you Tommy."

Sky cut in. "So what are we going to do? If theirs really no problem we can solve, how can we fix this?" She threw her hands in the air, then placed them back into her lap.

"We just need to show Luke that you can't stop love." Rebecca said. She got confused looks from all around.

"What do we need to do?" Asked Rachel.

Rebecca smiled. "Alright hears the plan. Tommy is going to pull up in his truck and wait by the street with you girls. Then Clementine is going to come out side and see him. Then hopefully she'll react the way I think she will. Meanwhile I'll get Luke to watch from the window. Then once he sees her reaction theirs no way he can tell her no."

Tommy was still confused. "what do you mean by the way she reacts? What is she supposed to do?"

"Just trust me. She's absolutely heartbroken. Once she sees you she'll be in tears. That should be enough to get Luke's attention."

"Got it!"

"Okay, that parts covered." Said Sarah. "But how do we get her to come out? She won't even talk to me."

"She won't talk to us either." Put in Rachel. "And it's not like Tommy can go walkin' through your house to go and get her."

"Trust me on this guys. As soon as we tell her she'll come."

No one knew what to say. This plan just seemed so unusual that they weren't sure if it would work. Then Abigail asked the question on everyone's mind. "What happens if the plan doesn't work?"

Rebecca smiled again. "I've got a backup plan. Like I said all we need is for Clem to come outside."

* * *

It was the next day. Luke was in his bedroom trying to think of a way to get Clem over Tommy.

Clementine was in her bedroom, not doing anything particular, thinking over all of the times her and Tommy had spent together, still heartbroken.

Sarah was in her bedroom too pretending to read, but was really waiting for the signal from the girls telling her that it was time to put the plan into action. She was also making sure that Clem stayed where she was, even though she probably wouldn't leave, it was just in case.

Her phone went off, telling her that she had received a text. She looked at it and read the text from Rachel. _"Come on out. Tommy just arrived. It's time to put the plan into action."_ Sarah texted back. _"Ok. Be right out."_ She stood up and walked out of the bedroom shutting the door behind her.

She walked down stairs where Rebecca was waiting. "Where ready! It's time to put the plan into action."

"Good. I'll go get Luke ready. You make sure Tommy's ready, then I'll go get Clem."

Sarah nodded then went out the front door and to the road where the rest of them where waiting.

* * *

"Luke get over here!" Yelled Rebecca.

"What! What was so important that you needed to get me out here?" He complained.

"I need you to watch this." She brought him to the kitchen window so he could see out side.

"Watch what?" He looked outside to see Sarah, the girls, and Tommy standing in the street.

"Ok, I know your not going to like this but... I want Clementine to see Tommy." Rebecca reeled back, waiting for Luke's outrage.

"No! No way." He crossed his hands out in front of him. "Therese no way she's going out there!"

She started getting impatient with him. "Luke just shut the fuck up and watch this!"

Luke looked at her sternly. "Becc we talked about this."

"No, only you talked about it." She snapped back, her anger taking over as she ranted on. "You've been trying to control their relationship even before you allowed her to actually date him!" She crossed her arms. "Hell, you're concerned about a little kiss. You should be happy for her. Thieve both grown up in a fucking apocalypse and you're worried about them going on a date."

Luke was about to protest but decided to keep his mouth shut, not wanting to piss off Rebecca even more.

She sighed and rubbed her forehead in frustration. "Look, I'm not asking much. Just watch and see what happens. If you'd actually pay attention you'd see that they were made for each other."

Luke huffed and folded his arms. "Fine... I'll watch... but I still don't agree with you." He protested.

"Agh, just come on!" She pushed him out the back door and had him wait by the side of the house so he could see and hear everything without getting spotted by Clem when she came out.

* * *

Clementine was on her bed thinking about all of the times her and Tommy had gone out. She laid on her back and stared up at the ceiling. Even before they started dating, Tommy had always been sweet with her. The first time she meet him she fell in love. She now recalled that the day he had asked her out, Sarah had deliberately made Clem sit with Tommy at the drive-in movie. She wondered if Sarah had done that just to mess with her,knowing about her crush on him, or if Tommy had asked her to. She'd have to ask Sarah,not now of course, but some day.

Rebecca walked up stairs to Clementine's room. She was nervous. _"What if Luke really didn't fall for the plan? What if Clem didn't react right? What if...no."_ No she had to clear her mind and just roll with the plan. She opened the door slowly and walked in so Clem knew who it was.

"Clem can you come with me for a minute?" She asked as calm as possible, trying to not seem suspicious.

Clem saw right threw it. "Why?" She complained. "This better not be another trick from Luke to get me to come down is it?" She sat up on the bed.

Rebecca folded her arms. "I'd beat his sorry ass before I'd let him tell me what to do." She said in a sour tone.

Clem snickered to her self, Kind of hoping she could see that happen.

Rebecca tried again to get her attention. "Clem will you please come down? Someone's here to see you."

Clem gave a frustrated groan as she leaned back. "Agh, do I have to? I don't want to run into Luke. He wont leave me alone."

"Luke's not here right now, so your safe. And Sarah's not here either." When Clem gave her a look that said just leave me alone she started pleading with her. "Please Clem...just come see who it is. Please."

"Fiiinne." She gave in and slid off her bed. She fixed her hat since it had shifted when she had laid down. She looked in the mirror real quick making sure it was on right. She wore faded blue jeans, a whit tank top with a purple cover shirt over it that had sleeves that reached half way down her arms, and of course she never went anywhere without her blue and white baseball cap.

She walked down the stairs and headed to the front door with Rebecca following close behind. She opened it to find no one there. She stepped onto the porch without even bothering to look around. "Therese no one here." She said to Rebecca. "Why'ed you call me out here?" She tried to turn back.

Rebecca grabbed her arm and turned her around. "Clem look!" She faced her towards the street.

Clem rolled her eyes but looked anyway and what she saw made her heart skip a beat. She put her hands over her mouth in shock. "O my gosh." She whispered to herself.

Tommy stood there at the street just as stunned as her.

Rebecca put a hand on her shoulder. "Go ahead." She told her.

Clem jumped off the porch and ran to him. "Tommy!" She yelled. Tears were starting to form in her eyes.

Tommy stopped and put his arms out towards her. Clem ran and jumped into his arms. He lifted her up and spun her around before he pulled her into a tight hug.

Clem hugged him back and held onto him tightly gripping his shirt, almost as if he would dissapear if she let go. She cried into his shirt soaking it. "I...I...I love y-you." She cried.

Tommy had a few tears of his own as he continued to hold onto her. "I love you too."

"Awwww." The girls where standing behind them watching the whole thing, but Clem didn't care. She was just happy to finally be back in Tommy's arms.

Tommy pulled back to get a look at her. He stared into her golden eyes as she stared into his blue ones. "Gosh I missed you." He told her.

"You have no idea." She said back as tears continued to leak out of her eyes.

Tommy wiped away some of her tears with his thumb. "I'ts alright. I'm here now."

She cuddled back into his embrace. "Promise you won't leave again?"

He smiled. "I promise." He told her. "You will always be in my heart."

* * *

Once Clementine had ran off the porch Rebecca had gone and brought Luke to the front yard. He had watched the whole thing and was quite shocked by Clem's reaction. He started felling guilty as he watched her cry into Tommy's shoulder. What hurt the most was when she asked him to never leave her again.

Luke put a hand to his head as realization hit him. "What have I done to her?" He sat down on the porch.

Rebecca sat next to him. She actually felt kind of bad for Luke, but at the same time she was happy that her plan had worked. "She's not so little anymore Luke. You need to except the fact that you can't stop love and you can't fence time."

He put his head in his hands, frustrated with himself. "How could I have been so blind. I must of put her through hell when I broke them up." He thought back to when she had first wanted to date him. At first he said no, then he made up those stupid rules for her to follow, then once she kissed him, he grounds her and tells her that she can never see him again. He felt like shit for doing this to her.

Rebecca smiled. "It's not to late to fix that."

He smiled back a little bit. "Your right. I can still fix this." He got up. "Thank you Rebecca."

Luke proceeded to walk over to Clem and Tommy.

Tommy looked up and saw Luke walking over and stood back up. Clem looked behind her confused by his sudden movement. She saw Luke and her eyes widened. She backed up and tried to hide behind Tommy a little. "I-I don't want to go back! You can't make me!"

Luke's heart broke. She was afraid of him after what he had done, and that was the last thing he wanted. "Clementine it's okay. I'm not going to make you break up with him."

"y-your not." She walked forward a little.

"No, you don't have to be...I'm not going to..." He couldn't find the right words. Luke sighed. "I guess what I'm trying to say is...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have grounded you like that. I just overreacted. It was stupid of me to make up those silly rules. I guess I just didn't want to let you go yet. I'm so sorry."

Clementine then hugged him. "I'm sorry too Luke." He hugged her back.

She released him from the hug and he smiled down at her. Then Sarah walked up. "I'm sorry too Clem. I should of respected your privacy when you didn't want to tell me. And I never meant to give away your secret. I hope you can forgive me."

Clem sent her a smile. "I forgive you Sarah. Besides I haven't been the greatest friend lately and even before me and Tommy have been spending a lot of time together."

Sarah smiled back. "Thanks Clem. And I promise I wont get in the way of your relationship."

Then Tommy walked up and wrapped his arms around Clementine so her head rested on his chest. "Now hold on. We don't always have to be separated. We can hang out together as friends." He looked to the girls and then to Clementine.

Clem looked up to meet his gaze. "I'd like that."

Then Rebecca walked over to join the group.

"What does this mean for us now?" Asked Rachel.

"I don't know about you, but I think things are only gonna get better from here." Said Sky.

"I hope so." Said Luke.

Wendy looked to Tommy. "Dude, I'm just glad the plan worked."

Clementine looked back up at Tommy, who still had his arms wrapped around her. "Wait you planed all of this?"

"Well, Rebecca came up with the plan. But I'd do anything in the world to get you back. Even if it meant we had to run away." He told her.

"I'm glad you didn't." Stated Luke.

"That was actually plan 'B'." Said Rebecca. Everyone stared at her for a minute.

"Well I guess we did say we would take extreme measures to get us back together." Said Tommy. Then everyone laughed.

"What do we do now?" Asked Abigail. The plan had worked, but what where they supposed to do now.

Tommy thought about it for a minute then it hit him. "Who wants to go to the drive-in?"

Everyone's hand shot up except Clem's, since Tommy's arms where still wrapped around her, but she didn't care. Being held in his arms made her feel safe and right now there was no place she'd rather be.

She smiled up at him. "Same place you asked me out."

He smiled back. "Same place."

Then Tommy, Clementine, Rachel, and Wendy got into his truck. And Luke, Rebecca, Sarah, Abigail, and Sky got into Luke's truck. Then they all drove down the road to the drive-in.

* * *

 **Here's chapter 5. It came out a little later than I had hoped, but this chapter is one of my favorites. Made me cry while typing it. Anyway I hoped you liked it.**


	6. Vegas Week

It's now three years later. Clementine is now 18 and Tommy is 20 and there relationship is as strong as ever. Today was a special day, for Clementine was heading out with Tommy and driving all the way to Las Vegas, Nevada. Georgia was coming along nicely with it's reform and now they were going to see how the rest of the U.S. had gotten along, some states where getting along better than others. Now they wanted to see if there was still life out there in other states, traveling to Vegas was the perfect way to do that.

Clem was placing there last bag into Tommy's white pickup truck, then she turned around so she could say goodbye to everyone. The girls had showed up to see her off and of course Luke, Sarah, and Rebecca would be there. Tommy waited by the truck as Clem said her goodbyes.

She turned to Luke first. "You sure your okay with this?" After what had happened with the whole kissing thing she wondered if Luke was really alright with letting her spend a week with Tommy alone.

"Yes its fine. Your coming back Saturday right?" He wanted to make sure.

"Yeah, Saturday evening."

"You have the spray with you?" Luke was referring to the antidote that cures walker bites.

"Yes Luke. I've got mine and Tommy's got a bigger bottle in his truck." She pointed behind her to the door of the truck that was open. In the side compartment Luke could see a bottle filled with a green substance. "And your gun?" He wanted to make sure. "I'm just makin' sure."

Clementine rolled her eyes, but smiled just the same. "It never leaves my side."

Luke folded his arms. "You know you still didn't finish your chores." He smirked at her.

Clem had a smirk of her own. "I know. Sorry about that."

Luke smiled at her. "I'm just kidding. Don't worry about it." He waved her off. "I'll miss you kid."

Clem wrapped her arms around him, embracing him in a hug. "I'll miss you too."

"I love you Clementine." He was starting to get emotional.

"I love you too Luke." She released him from the hug and moved over to Rebecca.

"Goodbye Clem." She said as she hugged her. "Bye Rebecca."

Lastly she came to Sarah and her friends. "I'll miss you guys. I wish we could all go."

Sarah smiled at her. "Don't worry you'll be back before you know it."

Sky butted in. "Don't forget to send us pictures and text us about whats going on."

Clem giggled. "I will."

Then Wendy added a comment. "Then when you get back you totally have to tell us everything that happened."

Rachel smiled. "Will totally go hang out at the shop and you can tell us everything."

"One more before you hit the road?" Abigail asked.

"Of course." Clem said. Then all the girls came in for a group hug.

Once Clem was released from the group she started walking back to the truck. As she was leaving she waved goodbye. "Bye, I'll see you guys in a week."

"Ready to go?" Asked Tommy showing up next to her. "Ready!" She said.

She climbed into the truck and Tommy got in on the other side and started the truck. "You sure your ready for this? I mean we don't know what's out there" Tommy explained.

"I'd go anywhere with you." She said to him.

He smiled at her. "I love you." Then he leaned in and kissed her on the lips. She kissed him back then they pulled away a few seconds later. "I love you too." She said back. Then Tommy turned on the radio and Clem leaned back in her seat and had her feet hanging out the window as they drove off down the road, heading up to Vegas.

Luke had seen them kiss from where he was standing. He had learned to accept their relationship and was okay with it. He just was a little concerned about letting Clem go off on this trip. It was just the two of them, but both of them did grow up in the apocalypse so he was sure they were safe from something unexpected happening. He sighed as he watched them drive away down the road.

Rebecca walked up next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I just didn't want to let her go so soon." He still looked towards the truck disappearing in the distance.

"Clementine's eighteen now, she'll be fine. Besides it's not like she's leaving forever. She'll be back in a week."

Luke sighed again, but had a smile on his face. "How could eighteen years just up and walk away?"

Rebecca laughed. "She doesn't want to leave. She just wants to know what's out there. You should take a page out of Reba's book."

Luke was confused. "Huh...?"

Rebecca sang as she looked off into the distance at the truck. _"Is there life out there? So much she hasn't done. Is there life beyond her family and her home? She's done what she should. Should she do what she dares? She doesn't want to leave. She's just wonderin' is there life out there."_

They all watched as the truck drove off into the distance. Luke smiled. _"I love you Clementine."_ He thought as he took one last glance then proceeded to walk back to the house.

Clementine and Tommy drove out of town as the sun was starting to set, the sky giving off an orange pink look. Clementine looked out of the window as the radio played it's music. _"She doesn't want to leave. She'd just wonderin' is there life out there."_

* * *

 **Sorry for such a short chapter, but we've reached the end of the story. There is going to be one more chapter, but it's not really part of the story. It's something special I created for the story. I hoped you liked the story and I'm planing on writing a new story soon after the last chapter of this one is complete. I don't want to give to much detail but it will be about how I changed Clementine's whole world and she became a new part of my life. Don't forget to leave a review and the next chapter will be out really soon.**


	7. Suds In The Bucket

**Must Read!**

 **Hey everyone! So for this being my first full story to complete its been pretty good. Thanks for all of your support and I've gotten some great reviews. Most people started hating Luke, but he finally came to his senses.**

 **Anyway we have reached the end of this story. This chapter was something special that I've wanted to put up since day one of making "Letting Her Go". As some people might have guessed this story was based off of the song "Suds In The Bucket" by Sara Evans. So I have created a a different version of this song by replacing certain words with different words, making the song go along with this story. If you go back and read the story you will find words from the song in the story, especially in chapters 1 and 2.**

 **No I do not own this song all rights to Sara Evans , but I take credit for changing the words and making the song about Clementine and this story. If you do not know this song try looking it up and listening to it, then going back and replacing the lyrics with the ones I came up with. Enjoy!**

* * *

She was in the back yard  
Say it was a little past nine  
When her prince pulled up  
A white pick-up truck

Her folks shoulda seen it comin'  
It was only just a matter of time  
Not quite old enough  
But you can't stop love

She stuck a note on the screen door  
'Sorry but I got to go'  
That was all she wrote  
Rebecca's heart was broke  
And that was all she wrote  
So the story goes

Now Lukes in the kitchen  
Starin' out the window  
Scratchin' and a rackin' his brains  
How can four short years just up and walk away  
My little pony tailed girl  
Growed up to be a woman  
Now she's gone in the blink of an eye  
She left the suds in the bucket  
And the clothes hangin' out on the line

Now don't you wonder what the preacher's  
Gonna preach about Sunday morn'  
Nothing quite like this  
Has happened here before  
Well he must of been a looker  
A smooth talkin' son of a gun  
For such a grounded girl  
To just up and run  
Of course you can't fence time  
And you can't stop love

Now all the biddies in the beauty shop  
Gossip goin' non-stop  
Sippin' on pink lemonade  
How could four short years just up and walk away  
My little pony tailed girl  
Growed up to be a woman  
Now she's gone in the blink of an eye  
She left the suds in the bucket  
And the clothes hangin' out on the line

Yee Hoo

She's got her pretty little bare feet  
Hangin' out the window  
And they're headed up to Vegas tonight  
How could 18 years just up and walk away  
My little pony tailed girl  
Growed up to be a woman  
Now she's gone in the blink of an eye  
She left the suds in the bucket  
And the clothes hangin' out on the line  
She left the suds in the bucket  
And the clothes hangin' out on the line

She was in the backyard  
Say it was a little past nine  
When her prince pulled up  
A white pick-up truck  
Plenty old enough  
And you can't stop love  
No you can't fence time  
And you can't stop love

* * *

 **Hope you liked the song and the story. Thanks for all the great reviews. I will be writing a new story soon, not sure what it will be called just yet, but I hope everyone will check it out once it's ready. Don't forget to leave a review. Thanks for reading!**


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